HTML DOM - Introduction
The HTML DOM defines a standard for accessing and manipulating HTML documents.
What You Should Already Know
Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:
If you want to study these subjects first, find the
HTML /
XHTML tutorials and
JavaScript Tutorial on our Home page.
The DOM is a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standard. The DOM defines a standard for accessing documents like HTML and XML:
"The W3C Document Object Model (DOM) is a platform and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of a document."
The DOM is separated into 3 different parts / levels:
- Core DOM - standard model for any structured document
- XML DOM - standard model for XML documents
- HTML DOM - standard model for HTML documents
The DOM defines the objects and properties of all document elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.
What is the XML DOM?
The XML DOM defines the objects and properties of all XML elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.
If you want to study the XML DOM, find the XML DOM tutorial on our Home page.
What is the HTML DOM?
The HTML DOM is:
- A standard object model for HTML
- A standard programming interface for HTML
- Platform- and language-independent
- A W3C standard
The HTML DOM defines the objects and properties of all HTML elements, and the methods (interface) to access them.
In other words: The HTML DOM is a standard for how to get, change, add, or delete HTML elements.
